| This qualitative case study uses a flexible design to examine the lived experiences of nine creative artists laid off from work in the animation industry. Participants were selected at random from a purposive sample acquired from industry databases and personal references. Given that creative artists frequently problem-solve and generate new ideation using creative processing abilities such as comfort with ambiguity, heuristics, and perseverance in complex situations, the research question was: What is the lived experience of a creative artist who has been laid off after long-term employment? Open-ended interview questions focused on participants' creative processing abilities, environment, self-concept, job loss, and recovery from loss. Open, axial, and selective coding techniques were used to analyze the data.; Analysis revealed themes related to self-efficacy during job loss, efforts to reapply skills, loss and disconnection, frustration and anger towards former employer, and support systems and linked lives . There was overlap among thematic expressions, demonstrating that there are both shared and individual approaches to job loss recovery and that the experience is subjective. The study indicated that each individual creative artist responded to the experience uniquely and outside of a conventional theoretical frame. |
